A Wedding at Mulberry Lane

by Rosie Clarke

  ‘Sit there and tell me all about it,’ Peggy said. She glanced round as the door opened behind her and Nellie made to come in, but on seeing Peggy’s warning look she nodded and backed out, mouthing that she would finish in the public bar. With her husband Laurie away, Peggy relied more and more on her friends to help her keep this place running. ‘What has happened to make you look like that, Janet love?’

  Janet had bent to look at her daughter asleep in her carrycot. She’d left the child with her mother while she went to visit her husband in hospital. Janet stroked her daughter’s head, blinking hard to hold back her tears. ‘Has she been good?’

  ‘Maggie is never any trouble,’ Peggy said, ‘but you’re upset – what’s wrong?’

  ‘It’s Mike,’ Janet said, her eyes drenched with tears as she spoke of her husband who had been wounded while on duty with the Navy, and thought lost for months, before being transferred to a British hospital. ‘He just stared at me as if I was a stranger and… I don’t think he liked me. I tried telling him about Maggie and he shook his head, didn’t want to know.’

  ‘The hospital did warn you that it was still too soon. Mike almost died of his wounds, Janet. Perhaps the only way he can cope with his illness and the horror of what happened is by shutting everything else out of his mind – and it must seem strange to be told he has a wife and daughter he doesn’t know.’

  ‘Oh Mum, I can’t bear it,’ Janet sobbed, because after two days visiting at the hospital, Mike’s attitude towards her was worse not better. ‘We were so much in love. Mike was always desperate to touch me and kiss me – and when I tried to kiss him yesterday afternoon before I left, he asked me not to…’

  Peggy’s heart wrenched with grief for her beloved daughter. Janet was a lovely girl, both in looks and nature, and she didn’t deserve this on top of all she’d gone through. Her fight to get married, before Mike left to join the Navy at the start of the war, had pulled the family apart, and then Janet had suffered the loss of her home and months of not knowing if her husband was alive. Peggy believed one of the main factors in the breakdown of her own marriage was the quarrels with Laurie over Jan’s behaviour. She’d taken her daughter’s side, especially when she’d confessed that she was having Mike’s baby before they were wed. Janet’s confession had finally forced her father’s hand and he’d had to give in and agreed that Peggy could sign the necessary forms, but he’d vowed he wouldn’t see her again. Laurie had since relented, but it was too late to restore what had been – at least for Peggy.

  ‘I know it’s hard,’ she said, kneeling down on the peg rug in front of the stove where she did all her cooking for both her family and the pub, which she and her husband had run together for nearly twenty years, before he went off to some secret location for military training. He’d told her nothing about his work for the War Office on his brief visit home at Christmas. All Peggy had learned in those few days was that Laurie had been unfaithful to her and that it had meant more to him than a fling. She reached for her daughter’s hand, looking intently into her face. ‘When you lose something as precious as you had with Mike it hurts terribly.’

  Janet looked blindly at her through the tears. ‘How could you know? You’ve got everything – Dad, the pub, Pip and me, and Maggie, to fuss over. You don’t know what it feels like to have your heart broken…’

  ‘You don’t know everything, perhaps my life isn’t all roses,’ Peggy said and stroked her cheek, kissing her softly and looking into her eyes for a moment. ‘I do understand, darling, believe me.’

  ‘Do you?’ Janet looked into her eyes, something in her tone alerting her. ‘Has Dad been unfaithful to you, Mum – is that why you’ve been so unhappy?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter about me; my troubles are nothing compared to yours, Jan…’ Peggy avoided her gaze, because she hadn’t allowed either of her children to see that things were wrong between her and Laurie.

  ‘No, tell me the truth. I want to know – has Dad let you down?’

  Peggy hesitated, feeling she didn’t want to make her daughter’s burden heavier, ‘Your father has someone else – someone younger, I think…’

  ‘Mum, he wouldn’t!’ Janet exclaimed, eyes opening wide with shock. ‘Is it my fault… because you quarrelled over me?’

  ‘Of course not,’ Peggy said and got to her feet as the delicious smell from the oven told her the latest batch of scones were ready to come out. ‘I’m not sure when it started – but things hadn’t been right between us for a while.’

  ‘I always thought you two were a perfect match – happy and still in love, still behaving as if you were lovers sometimes…’

  Peggy sighed as she stood with her back to her daughter, her shoulders tense. ‘I thought so too but then… oh, it doesn’t matter.’ Peggy forced a smile. ‘Don’t worry about me. I’m more concerned about you and Mike.’

  Janet shook her head. ‘How could Dad do that to you? You’re still young and attractive – and you’ve made this pub the success it is. It wouldn’t do half as well without the lovely food you cook…’

  ‘Especially these days when we’re continually running out of beer,’ Peggy agreed. ‘Which reminds me – I’ve got to ring the brewery and chase them up about our delivery. It’s already two days late…’

  ‘Are you content to go on working here, knowing that he’s carrying on?’ Janet shook her head in disgust.

  ‘Don’t look like that, darling.’ Peggy laughed softly. ‘It isn’t the end of the world. Yes, it hurt, and I was angry, but it’s been happening slowly this breaking apart, little by little… and besides, I have an admirer.’

  Janet’s shock was written all over her face.

  Peggy was pleased that she’d managed to divert her daughter’s thoughts from her own tragedy, even if only for a little while.

  ‘Mum, are you serious?’

  Peggy pretended to be affronted as she started slicing bottled pears for an upside-down cake. ‘And you were just telling me how attractive I was – anyone would think I was in my dotage…’

  ‘I didn’t mean that – you know I didn’t,’ Janet smiled a little uncertainly at her. ‘It’s weird thinking your mother might be having an affair…’

  ‘Now you’re going too far,’ Peggy said primly. ‘It’s one thing to have a young admirer, and I must admit he has helped me get through some dark days since Christmas, but having an affair… I couldn’t! I never looked at another man while Laurie was away in the last war.’

  ‘That was different back then when Dad was away at war,’ Janet said. ‘I wouldn’t have dreamed of being unfaithful to Mike while he was away…but if you and Dad don’t get on perhaps…’ She drew a sobbing breath as her grief returned, sweeping her own problems to the fore. ‘Oh, Mum, I know I’ve got to be brave. The hospital told me it will take a long time to heal his physical wounds, though he’ll walk and get back to normal given a chance to heal – but they can’t be sure if, or when, his mind will heal.’

  ‘You still love him, don’t you?’

  ‘Yes, with all my heart – what makes you ask?’

  ‘I just wondered…’ Peggy hesitated. ‘Because of that man who sent you those lovely things for Maggie after your home was destroyed…’

  ‘You mean Ryan Hendricks?’ Janet’s cheeks flushed slightly as she looked at her. ‘He was just a friend, Mum. You know he thinks the world of his wife and children…’

  ‘He thinks quite a bit of you, Janet. I sensed there was something between you. He went to so much trouble to find out about Mike, didn’t he?’ Ryan had used all his contacts to find Mike for her when he’d been lying in a hospital bed and no one knew who he was; it was his inquiries that had brought them the news, much swifter than if it had been left to the war office.

  ‘Yes…’ Janet hesitated. ‘I know Ryan likes me, perhaps more than he ought, but I love Mike. I always shall.’

  ‘Not even a little bit of doubt there?’ Peggy looked at her intently. ‘Are you sure there isn’t a little bi
t of you that wants to see Ryan again?’

  Janet was silent for a moment, her pretty face torn with indecision and worry, and then, ‘Not if I can have Mike back as he was…’

  ‘And if you can’t?’ Peggy’s eyes were very blue as they looked into her daughter’s.

  Janet closed her eyes for a moment and then looked at her. ‘It isn’t fair to ask that sort of question, Mum. How can I know?’

  ‘Well, I think you do know in your heart,’ Peggy said and washed her hands in the big stone sink. ‘I should be telling you to stick by your husband to the last, but I don’t think I need to, because I know you to be loyal and loving, my darling. You and your brother are my consolation, my hope for the future. If I didn’t have you and Pip, I might run off to America and live forever with my young lover in the land of plenty…’

  Janet smiled sadly and shook her head. ‘I know you’re trying to cheer me up, Mum. You wouldn’t dream of doing anything of the sort. And I shall stick by Mike and try to believe in a future for us as a family; Maggie, her father and me.’

  ‘It will come right,’ Peggy said, and glanced through the back window. ‘And here comes Anne to help out in the pub, so I’ll take these scones through to the bar and you can tell her where I am, love.’

  ‘Do you want me to do anything for you?’ Janet asked.

  ‘Just look after Maggie,’ Peggy said, because the baby had begun to grizzle in her little Tansad pram, which folded up and could be used as a carrycot on buses and trains. ‘She’s sensed you’re home and she wants a feed…’

  Leaving her daughter to look after her baby, Peggy went through to the bar, which smelled of polish because Nellie had been hard at work rubbing the wooden surface of the bar and the little oak tables set at intervals about the large room. The Pig & Whistle was an old-fashioned pub in style, built more than a hundred years earlier, with dark oak beams holding a rail above the bar from which Peggy had hung horses’ brasses that gleamed in the lights. The shelves behind were also made of oak that had gone dark with age, but Peggy had persuaded Laurence to have mirrors set behind them so that the bottles and glasses were reflected and it made the bar seem even bigger.

  ‘You’ve got this looking lovely, Nellie,’ Peggy said. ‘If you put the kettle on I’ll come through for a drink once Anne has her coat off…’ She broke off as the door opened with a ping and right on cue their first customer of the day arrived. He was a travelling salesman with flat feet, which he made much of because it was the reason the army had refused him. ‘Good morning, Mr Symonds, how are you?’

  ‘Very cold and my feet are giving me hell,’ he said. ‘Have you a nip of whisky for me, Peggy? Just to keep the chill off my chest…’

  ‘I’ll ’ave a sit-down and a cuppa,’ Nellie said cheerfully. ‘Then I’ll go up and give the bedrooms a clean…’

  ‘Yes, please.’ Peggy was thankful for her cheerful helper as she served the customer with a measure of whisky from under the bar. Because it was only so far the stock Laurie had so providentially stocked in the cellars before the war would stretch, Peggy had worked out that the regulars who always came to her for whisky should have their own bottles, which she kept out of sight. For the moment, she was still able to provide a drink of some sort even for casual visitors, but as the shortages began to bite harder, she’d known she must make sure that her regular customers didn’t go without. ‘Only a third of the bottle left, sir.’

  ‘Can you put another one by for me?’ Mr Symonds asked. ‘I’d be happy to pay up front if you wish?’

  ‘You know I don’t ask for that,’ Peggy said. ‘I’ll see what I can do, but it depends whether I can get more deliveries. They’re very hit and miss…’

  Peggy didn’t want to reveal that there was still quite a stack of boxes stored in the pub’s cellars. She hadn’t even known they were there until Pip had shown her the secret hoard Laurie had put by without telling her – one of his secrets, like the money in the post office bankbook that he’d told her about at Christmas, just in case he didn’t come back.

  Once, Peggy had considered they were close, and she’d certainly been head over heels in love with Laurie when they married, because he’d been handsome and fun to be with. He was still attractive, but the laughter had come less often over the years, Laurie seeming to touch her only when he wanted sex. The spontaneous cuddles and kisses had been missing for years, and without realising it, Peggy had allowed the friendship of her customers and neighbours to fill the empty spaces in her heart.

  ‘You’re the best, Peggy Ashley,’ her customer said and winked. ‘Give me one of those scones, will you?’

  ‘I’m afraid there’s only margarine today,’ Peggy said. ‘You can have jam as well – but most people just like them plain because they’ve got an almond flavour.’

  ‘I’ll have a little marge then,’ he sighed. ‘This rotten old war – it’s a rum thing when we can’t even get a bit of butter on a scone…’

  He took his drink and the small plate off to a table in the corner and sat down to open his briefcase. Anne entered from the kitchen and Peggy nodded to her.

  ‘I wasn’t sure if you would be in today…’

  ‘I’m free for the next week or so,’ Anne told her, tucking a stray wisp of hair back into her severe style. ‘The school board is trying to locate some children who ran away from their billets in the country and came home. When they’re found, I’ve got to take them back and help settle them into their new schools.’

  ‘It’s a bit of an upheaval for you,’ Peggy’s ready sympathy came to the fore as she looked at her friend. Anne was attractive, her light brown hair drawn back today into a swirl at the back of her head, but she had beautiful soft grey eyes and could have been really lovely had she taken the trouble to make more of herself. Peggy often thought Anne tried to look plain in her dull tweed skirts and hand-knitted jumpers, as if she had made up her mind to be an old maid and didn’t want any offers from men; perhaps because she’d had an unhappy affair once before. ‘Why don’t they give you a proper settled job?’

  ‘It’s because they need supply teachers at a moment’s notice. We’ve lost so many schools, either because they’ve been taken over by the War Office or they’ve been bombed. We’ve had to set up temporary schools where we can, and a lot of the young teachers are leaving to join the women’s forces…’

  ‘You thought of it at one time, didn’t you?’

  ‘Yes, when I was feeling miserable; that’s why I’ve done some voluntary ambulance work, but I’m glad I stuck to my teaching – besides, you get moved around even more in the services. Maureen has just been told they’re sending her down to Portsmouth…’

  ‘She won’t be happy about that now Rory has been transferred to a convalescent home nearer London.’ Peggy shook her head over the news. For years Maureen had been virtually a prisoner in her father’s little shop at the other end of Mulberry Lane, but Mr Jackson had suddenly remarried and Maureen had walked out on him and joined the Women’s Volunteer Service, opting to train as a nursing assistant. The man she loved had been wounded in the war and sent to a specialist burns hospital, but recently he’d been transferred back to London.

  Thinking about Maureen’s situation made Peggy frown, because she wasn’t sure what her friend saw in Rory Mackness. Personally, she wouldn’t trust him any further than she could throw him.

  ‘No, Maureen isn’t pleased, but she doesn’t have much choice,’ Anne said, turning to look as the door opened and a man in the uniform of an American captain entered. His chocolate-brown eyes went straight to Peggy, his face lighting up as he saw her. ‘I think this gentleman has come to see you, Peggy…’ Anne whispered and busied herself with setting out some clean glasses on a tray as the young officer walked up to the bar. He looked very handsome in his smart uniform, his dark hair slicked down as he removed his cap, and Peggy caught her breath as she saw the way he looked at her.

  ‘Good morning, Peggy,’ he said cheerfully. ‘It sure is cold out today
…’

  ‘Yes, almost cold enough for snow,’ Peggy replied. ‘What can I get for you, sir?’

  She was aware that Janet had just walked in from the kitchen and was carrying something that smelled good, fresh from the oven.

  ‘Ah, Peggy, you promised me you’d call me Able,’ he said. ‘I thought we were friends?’

  ‘Yes, we are, Able,’ Peggy said and her heart took a giddying tumble in her chest. ‘What may I get for you today?’

  ‘I’d like coffee and a slice of that pie, whatever it is…’

  ‘It’s an upside-down cake,’ Peggy said and glanced at Janet, who was trying to hide her grin as she covertly studied the young officer. ‘I put it in the oven earlier and my daughter has kindly brought it through for me…’

  That should put him off if anything would, Peggy thought. If he’d thought her younger than she was, it should dispel any ideas he’d had of romancing her. However, after a brief glance at Janet, he was looking at Peggy again, his eyes warm with admiration.

  ‘You must have had her when you were fourteen,’ he said and the intention to flirt was unmistakable now. Peggy breathed deeply as she saw the sparkle in those dark eyes and knew that she was far more interested than was good for her. At most, the young officer could want only a brief sexual fling, something that would be pleasant but would last for exactly as long as he was based in England. ‘Hey… was that the siren? Hitler’s thugs are starting early this morning…’

  ‘It’s probably a false alarm,’ Peggy said, ‘but if you’d put the lock on the door, Able, I’ll take everyone down to the cellar. We’ll be safe enough there…’

  ‘I shan’t stop if you don’t mind, Mrs Ashley,’ Mr Symonds said and got up in a hurry. ‘I’ve got an important appointment this morning – I’ll be on my way…’

  Peggy watched as he went out and then Able closed the pub door and locked it behind him. Peggy picked up the coffee pot and Anne took the scones, Able followed with the freshly baked cake, and the three of them trooped through the door at the side of the bar to the cellar stairs; Nellie joined them at the top as the wail of the siren grew louder.